Hindustani classical vocalist, Prabha Atre, 90, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award, continues to challenge ideologies of a rigid system and make classical music approachable to all.
Over the last 15 years, Hindustani classical vocalist, Atre, has headlined the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav (festival)—a significant event in the country’s cultural calendar. Initiated by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi in memory of his Guru , the annual Pune festival draws a large crowd, who travel from far and wide, some even sleep outside the ticket counter for festival passes. Until he retired in 2006, Joshi would close the festival. He then chose Atre, who has carried it forward even after Joshi’s passing away in 2011.
At home in Pune, Atre one of the senior most performing artist in the country, continues to do what she has for last 70 years—wake up at dawn to discover the secrets of swaras (notes). “There is no other to hone your art, to discover something more”, says Atre, who was also awarded earlier the Padma Shri in 1990 and Padma Bhushan in 2002.
Her ability to question the art form probably comes from the fact that she was not born into a family of musician. “Forget about performing classical music, no one had even heard it in my family”, says Atre. Sometimes Radio played at home, in Pune, and Atre found herself being pulled in by the voices of Noor Jehan, Begum Akhtar and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
But real learning happened when she met her Gurus. Her father, a headmaster, employed a harmonium guru for her ailing mother. Though her mother quit after three-four lessons, Atre continued. She was in her mid teens when father’s friend took her to Bombay-based vocalist Sureshbabu Mane, son of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan of the Kirana Gharana (school). Atre sang a song which impressed Mane and he agreed to teach her.
Four years later, when Mane died in 1953, his sister Hirabai Barodekar took her as a student for a couple of years. “My gurus were very open-minded and would always say ‘don’t be a photocopy’. They gave me a strong foundation”, says Atre. She graduated in science followed by a law degree.
Atre joined All India Radio, Ranchi, as an assistant producer in 1960, where she was introduced to a variety of producers and genres, including Carnatic classic and western pop. She was fascinated by the music of Ustad Amir Khan, the founder of Indore Gharana (school), Patiala gharana legend Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Roshan Ara Begum of Kirana Gharana. This is when she was deepening her quest to critically analyze her own music. “There is art and then there is the Sastra (science) behind it. Art will change with time, so Sastra can’t stay behind. My background allowed me to have a scientific approach to an abstract form”, says Atre. By then she had begun to perform and was a rising star in the concert circuit in the 60s. Like everything conventional, she grappled with the idea of marriage and decided it was not for her.
After her last stint at AIR in 1970, Atre headed the music department at SNDT university, Mumbai, from 1980-92. There she turned around the curriculum, making it broader in approach, allowing students to explore various genres of music.
When Atre is not composing and performing, she is writing books. Her book—Enlightening the listeners—contemporary North Indian Classical vocal Music Performance– is a guide to understanding finer details of classic music. “If we want people to appreciate classical music, then we have to make it approachable,” she adds.
To the world she is a scholar and musician, but to her students , she is a friend and mother, who sometime cooks a typical Maharashtrian meal for them. Even after all these years, Atre’s discipline and commitment is phenomenal even at this age. (IPA Service)